ARTS, BRIEFLY; Kahlo Works Faked? Prosecutors Investigate

Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF

Published: September 24, 2009

Prosecutors in Mexico said they were investigating an assertion that more than 1,000 items attributed to the artist Frida Kahlo in a private collection and two books are forgeries, The Associated Press reported. The attorney general's office in Mexico City told The A.P. that a complaint filed by the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Trust said that paintings, notes and drawings bearing Kahlo's signature and featured in the books ''Finding Frida Kahlo'' and ''The Labyrinth of Frida Kahlo: Death, Pain and Ambivalence'' are fakes. But Princeton Architectural Press, which published ''Finding Frida Kahlo,'' said it planned to continue selling the book. ''In the book we state that the pieces have not been 100 percent authenticated, that it's still being researched,'' said Katharine Myers, the imprint's publicity director, according to The A.P.